David Hockney Will Come. (Unique Drawings, Proofs and Screenprints).

(Newcastle)., (1965).. Folio. (Various sizes).. A unique collection of material by David Hockney comprising original drawings, screenprint proofs and posters for a work to promote his own lecture at Newcastle University in 1965.‘Back in England Hockney and I became friends and I got him to come up to Newcastle to give a talk on his work, for which he made a little drawing of a palm tree which I printed as a poster.’ (Mark Lancaster).David Hockney's friend Mark Lancaster, at the time an art student at Newcastle, invited Hockney to give an informal talk about his practice. Richard Hamilton, then teaching at Newcastle, had organised screenprinting equipment for the art department and Hockney and Lancaster collaborated to produce a screenprint to promote the talk. For 'David Hockney Will Come' Hockney made two drawings in black ink (both present here), the first with a palm tree, the second with the text, clouds and a partial sun sun. The finished screenprint combines both drawings but the second drawing - it becomes the background of the finished screenprint - with text was printed in red. The motif of the palm tree which takes centre stage in the work was used extensively by Hockney in his paintings and prints. First seen in his series 'The Rake’s Progress' (1961 - 1963) which is also noteable for his use of red and black as here, and the prints 'The Marriage' (1962), 'Jungle Boy' (1964) and 'Pacific Mutual Life' (1964); Hockney's painting 'The Great Pyramid at Giza with broken head from Thebes' (1963) used to illustrate the cover of the announcement / catalogue of his first solo painting exhibition 'Pictures with People in' also features a palm tree.Present here, all from the collection of Mark Lancaster, Hockney's friend, the instigator of 'David Hockney Will Come' and the printer of the screenprint, comprise the following: - Original drawing in black ink with palm within frame; (sheet size 780 x 510 mm). - Original drawing in black ink with clouds, sun and text 'David Hockney Will Come'; (sheet size: 780 x 510 mm). - Proof in red of the second screen (i.e. with clouds, sun and without text); (sheet size: 570 x 448 mm). - Proof in red of the second screen (i.e. with clouds and sun and with text 'David Hockney WIll Come'; (sheet size: 780 x 510 mm). - FInal version of screenprint poster with text; (sheet size: 572 x 446 mm). - Final version of screenprint poster with signed presentation: ‘for Mark from David H. XXX’; (sheet size: 572 x 446 mm).Mark Lancaster, an artist, friend and travel companion of Hockney’s, visited New York in the early 1960’s and became an assistant to Andy Warhol and later to Jasper Johns. Lancaster and Hockney travelled extensively together to Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Bali, Bangkok and Burma and remained close friends until Lancaster's death. The edition size of the poster is unknown but was likely extremely limited given it was issued to promote a one-off afternoon lecture. The only other known copy is held in the Tyne & Wear Archives.David Hockney’s lecture at Newcastle University took place a year after the ‘6 Young Painters’ Arts Council touring exhibition which was held in the city from 2nd - 22nd February 1964 and included five paintings by David Hockney. Fellow artists featured in the exhibition included Bridget Riley and Peter Blake. By 1965 David Hockney had already gained recognition - he left The Royal Collage of Art in 1962 - with his first solo exhibition of paintings ‘Pictures with People In’ at the Kasmin Gallery in London in 1963. Mark Lancaster’s earliest screenprints date back to 1965, the year he and Hockney produced these works, which are an important and early example of screen-printing in Britain, as well as in Hockney’s own printmaking oeuvre.